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Two-thirds of the world’s Internet population visit social networking or blogging sites, according to a new Nielsen report. Social Media is changing how we interact with each other and is shifting the power to the community.

One of the most powerful social network tools are peer comparisons. New financial web portals like Mint, Geezeo and ING’s CompareMe allow consumers to see how similar people are managing their finances and investments. These online anonymous peer comparisons are demonstrating that there is strength in numbers.

Now business owners can use myRealRate.com to anonymously compare payment card processing expenses with what others are paying for merchant services within their industry. myRealRate is a rich internet application delivering peer-to-peer knowledge … more

According to The Washington Post, The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act that President Obama recently signed into law includes a provision to investigate the fees that businesses pay to allow their customers to use credit.

The The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is supposed to report its findings to Congress in six months, along with any recommendations for legislation. The agency is charged with examining whether merchants are restricted from revealing the fees to customers and to what extent merchants are permitted to discount for cash purchases. It will investigate the ability of merchants of varying sizes to negotiate interchange fees and exactly what costs are incorporated into the fees.

Often entrepreneurs give little thought and wait until the last minute to address the issue of how they will collect payment. Without the proper research, they fall victim to unfavorable contract terms and put in place poor business practices that expose them to fraud and losses. However, with a little forethought and planning, business owners can lower their cost, improve efficiency and reduce their risk.

10 Questions to Plan your Payment Acceptance Strategy

Of course every business is unique but there are some basic questions to start:

Who will my customers be? Consumer, business, corporate or government clients?

What type of payments will I accept? What payment methods will my customers prefer?

Vantage has contributed a new Google Knol titled "The Bottom Line on Merchant Rates".

Today it is a near necessity for most small and medium-sized businesses to accept credit card payments. Until recently, merchants had no resource for comparing rates with each other. myRealRate creates a nationwide database for comparing and sharing card processing expenses. Business owners can calculate their Real Rate to accept card payments and then benchmark their rate against others of the same size within their industry to identify savings. Sharing with the merchant community is the next step in achieving lower merchant rates.

We invite you to write a review for the knol at http://knol.google.com/k/ty-hardison/the-bottom-line-on-merchant-rates/3u14xw58ll2 … more